After less than two weeks in office, Queensland’s Liberal National Party government, headed by Campbell Newman, has cancelled the state’s Premier’s Literary Awards. The Queensland Premier's Department have released an official statement:

'A spokeswoman for the Premier said the LNP government had been clear in communicating its plan to control government spending, return the budget to surplus, revitalise frontline services and lower the cost of living for all Queenslanders. As part of this plan, existing programs will continue to be reviewed to determine if the cost of these initiatives could contribute to this savings strategy. In light of this, the Queensland Government has decided not to proceed with the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards in 2012, which will save Queensland taxpayers $244 475, not including the cost of resourcing the Awards. The Government would like to acknowledge all the sponsors, judges, stakeholders, entrants and winners for their valued contribution to the program to date.'

Judges, contenders, and previous winners are surprised and dismay by the news, as is the founder of the Awards, former Labor Queensland premier Peter Beattie.

Transcript

Michael Cathcart: After less than two weeks in office, Queensland's Liberal National Party government, headed by Campbell Newman, has cancelled the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards. We approached the Premier to come onto the show, and we received a press release, it says this: 'In the light of the government's plan to return the budget to surplus it's decided not to proceed with the awards in 2012, saving the Queensland tax payers around $250,000.'

Well, judges, contenders and previous winners are pretty dismayed by this news. The awards were founded by the former premier, Peter Beattie. Peter Beattie joins us now. Welcome. What's your response to this announcement?

Peter Beattie: Well, thank you for having me. As you know, I established these awards back in 1999, and the reason I did it was because I wanted to ensure that there was a creative spirit in Queensland. We've been a backwater for a long time during the Bjelke-Petersen years. We were in fact the laughing stock of Australia culturally, people thought we were a joke, and that annoyed me because I knew there were so many creative people.

But what the difficulty is when you're a writer and you're struggling, it doesn't matter how brilliant you are, it's actually getting your work published. And that's one of the reasons why these awards provided every year for an unpublished Queensland author to have their book published by the University of Queensland Press.

But there was also an intellectual challenge in here. You had people who could write about Indigenous matters, they could write contemporary things, critical of the government. This was about developing a creative spirit. When you win by 78 seats you can do what you like, and Campbell's got a majority, he's got a mandate, good luck to him, he can do it. But I just say to him, the importance about this is it's about creating an environment where we become a magnet to attract people from around the world who want to come here as scientists, who want to come here and do research and things like Gardasil, prevent cervical cancer, develop cures for diseases, to prevent prostate cancer, all these sorts of things, those sort of people only come if you've got a strong cultural background, and that's why these awards are important.

Michael Cathcart: Peter, do you think that in Queensland, culture and the arts are still seen as a party political issue? Are the arts seen as a lefty preoccupation?

Peter Beattie: I'd be really disappointed if that's the case because the judges who were on this were very nonpolitical. They gave awards to people who…frankly, if I'd been sitting on it maybe I wouldn't have given an award to Hicks last year, but look, good luck to him, he wrote a book and the independent judges said he was the person for it. So we tried to make this nonpolitical, which is why politicians didn't make the decision. I would have thought we'd got to the stage where writing, being creative, all those sorts of things is a bipartisan nonpolitical thing. I don't intend to get into criticising Campbell, I've retired, good luck to him, but when it comes to things like this that are about the future of Queensland, then it is really important that we think about them.

And I just want to make this point, it's not just about writing, it's about being creative, and if you look at what's happening in the world, knowledge these days is creating about 50% of all the jobs in the new economy, and therefore to be creative you've got to have people who can write, get on a computer and create computer games, who can go into a lab and find a cure for cancer, but those people will only do it in a creative environment. And I remember trying to attract a leading scientist to come here to head up one of our institutions, a woman who then went on to become a Nobel prize-winner, but one of the things she was really interested in was not just the quality of the research and funding for research, she wanted to really understand what was the cultural position in Queensland, whether there were cultural activities. And that's why the Gallery of Modern Art, GOMA, that's why writing these awards were just so important. And frankly they have to be at some point restored, because if not then we go back to the bad old days where we're regarded as a joke and a backwater.

Michael Cathcart: Peter, do you imagine that other arts organisations in Queensland should be worried?

Peter Beattie: I just hope that people understand that the arts is not just about being creative, which obviously I like, but it's also about the jobs and the opportunities that go with it. The arts are really important for our quality of life, but they are just as important for jobs. And I repeat what I said before, you have to remember that all these creative industries, they are where a lot of the jobs are coming from in the 21st century. We've got people who produce computer games in the Valley, for example, and other parts of Queensland, they're the salt of the world, and out of that you get jobs. This is about jobs, it is not just about being creative.

So I would hope people would value the arts, and it's not just a lefty thing, I would hope that people, middle of the road, thinking people, would understand that the Gallery of Modern Art is important, that people being able to write is important, that they create. It's not just books but they actually get people to think and challenge ideas, and out of that...that's the new world. And just to mention this again, if you consider what is happening in China, if you consider what is happening in places like India, the power of ideas is what is going to drive an economy, and the power of ideas comes out of people sitting down, writing a book, challenging traditional ideas, attacking the government.

We had people who won awards in the contemporary area who were very severe critics of the government. I remember Tony Koch, a five-times Walkley award-winner, he won for a piece that was critical of my government. This is not about politics, it's about being creative and it's about creating an environment where we have the new age jobs. That's what this is about.

Michael Cathcart: Peter Beattie, the former premier of Queensland, responding to the news that the Queensland government on the day the new ministry was sworn in has cancelled the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards.

Looking at the newspapers, Twitter and Facebook there has certainly been a strong response to this cut. The Courier Mail reports that the new Arts Minister Ros Bates refused to comment, saying that she didn't even have an office set up yet. The Courier Mail goes on to quote a spokesperson for the government saying that they are great supporters of the arts. Opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk describes the move as disturbing. She says, 'Campbell Newman and Ros Bates need to be upfront and honest about this decision rather than refusing to answer questions about it.' She goes on, 'This is a disturbing sign of things to come. What will be cut next? School literacy programs, or the ready readers initiative?'

We put out a call on Twitter yesterday to gauge the response to the news, and you can follow this conversation yourself, just pop along to @RNBooksandArts.

Tara June Winch, who is the author of Swallow the Air, writes: 'My career owes its existence to the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, as do many. What does this mean for the Unaipon?' I should explain that Tara won the Unpublished Indigenous Writer Arts Queensland David Unaipon Award back in 2004.

Writer Benjamin Law Tweets this: 'It's not individual literary careers that matter. Books and culture make society. Culture describes and reflects who we are.'

Someone called DJ@AusNation11 says: 'I'm all for savings in the budget, but this was a bit too quick. Why not reduce the award amounts in the first instance?'

Michael Fullilove, well known as the foreign policy analyst from the Lowy Institute calls it 'a pointless and illiberal decision'.

The author Claire Corbet says: 'Axing the Queensland lit awards must be virtually their first act of government. Shows where they're coming from. Happy New Year!'

There have also been comments on the Radio National Facebook page. There are lots of comments along the lines of 'Surprise, surprise, it is an embarrassment, it's channelling Joh'.

But there is another perspective coming through, Karen Downes writes: 'I expect a lot more cost cutting. We need to get rid of some debt.'

John Miovich says: 'Not a good day for two-bob snobs is it? Perhaps modern day authors will start churning out books that people actually want to read.'

So, do you think this is a reasonable move? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter. What you need to know is @RNBooksandArts, and use the hash tag #ABCRN. And of course you can pop along to our own website, you'll find our webpage on the Radio National webpage, and we'll read out more of your comments in the coming days.

Matt Condon is a Brisbane-based writer, he's got eight novels under his belt, including A Night at the Pink Poodle, Trout Opera, and Mulligan. And in 2010 he published Brisbane, a reflective piece on the city where he grew up. Matt, welcome to the show. What's your response to this news?

Matthew Condon: Michael, I think it's spectacular in its idiocy. I'm still numb from the news and I think a lot of people in the literary community here are too. It's astonishing that within hours of the new ministers being sworn in, this first major act of the government is to literally remove in a stroke the Queensland literary and arts community from the national agenda. I'm astonished.

Michael Cathcart: Can you talk about how significant the awards were in the cultural life of the state?

Matthew Condon: Well, the awards have always underpinned certainly...and Peter Beattie was correct when he put a very solid plank under the awards back in the late '90s. That was followed on with great endearment by the former Premier Anna Bligh, this was very, very close to her heart, these awards, and that underpinned really what has been to date today a flourishing local literary scene, and we produce some national, indeed international writers from that plank. So its removal beggars belief.

Michael Cathcart: Governments all around the world are making cuts because these are tough times. Can we read this simply as a cost-cutting exercise, or are you reading some kind of anti-arts agenda into this?

Matthew Condon: Well, let's look at $244,000. I mean, that's Clive Palmer's cocktail onion bill for the year, I would imagine. I mean, someone did the maths up here and said that $250,000 would pay for 30 centimetres of the failed Clem7 underground tunnel that Newman built as mayor. If you put it into statistics you could go on and on about how this is a pittance really, which is part of the tragedy.

Michael Cathcart: Yes, when we were talking to Peter Beattie he made reference to Hicks which of course he was referring to David Hicks who was shortlisted for the non-fiction prize last year. He didn't win. But was that a source of public disquiet with the awards? Did that poison the awards in any way?

Matthew Condon: I don't think in any way whatsoever. I mean, I think it showed in fact the robust independence of the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards at that time. It says the opposite I think to what you're suggesting.

Michael Cathcart: I'll ask you the question I asked him, and that is are the arts seen as a kind of lefty thing in Queensland?

Matthew Condon: Look, we could debate that for hours and I don't think I could come to an answer, but I may be completely incorrect but I have a suspicion…I'm wondering why he targeted these awards and why it was done with such haste, as in, the government has only been in existence for 11 days. My understanding is that the actual advertisements to call for submissions for the award were due to be published next week, so I guess there is an imperative there to scuttle it before it wobbles out of hand. But the other is that there is no question that Bligh really treasured these awards and fostered them and nurtured them, and my deeper conspiratorial thought is that it's a sort of poke in the eye to Bligh to say, 'I'm here now and this is me and this is us.'

Michael Cathcart: There is always a tendency for the new people who run the organisation to come in and take away all the innovations that were identified with the other side. That's not just true of government, this is true of organisations and companies and institutions.

Matthew Condon: Last night there was an enormous amount of communication and patter and chatter, online and on telephones, with people in the literary and arts community here and in south-east Queensland specifically, and I can happily sound a positive note that there is a very strong push to continue the awards this year as per business as usual. The nominal title at the moment is the Queensland Literary Awards, and I can confirm very excitedly that Greg Bain, the publisher at the University of Queensland Press, has pledged this morning that he will continue to publish the winner of the Unaipon Indigenous Award and the Emerging Writers Award. So that's a very, very strong indication that this community up here is upset and that it will not let these awards die due to a bureaucratic decision.

Michael Cathcart: So philanthropy and the private sector could step in?

Matthew Condon: Look, indeed it could, but if these awards are run without actual prize money...this has never been about the money, it is not about the money, this is the point that the government misses, it's about our culture, it's about supporting writers, encouraging writers, it is about fostering early careers. If the awards go ahead with no money, then so be it, and I think the spirit of it has to be cherished.

Michael Cathcart: If you're the winner of the prize though, the money does make a difference. I've interviewed many writers who say having won the prize liberated them to write their next book, to become the writer they really needed to be.

Matthew Condon: Oh there's absolutely no question about that, and hopefully...as long as the awards are kept alive in this new form, then one would hope down the track that patronage is attracted to that. But the powerful message is these awards will not disappear.

Michael Cathcart: Matt, I know that you grew up in Queensland, and there was a time when you left your state of origin. Does this reflect on that?

Matthew Condon: Yesterday when I heard the news about this I literally had a chill go down my spine because it did take me back to the early to mid-'80s when, as a young novelist, I groped around in the cultural vacuum that was Queensland at that time, and like many others I fled the state in order to seek out a rich cultural life. Look, Queensland has done very, very well in the past two decades in establishing a very, very loyal, committed and indeed warm arts community here, and this echo to 20, 25 years ago I think adds to the shock.

Michael Cathcart: You know Queensland. Is there any possibility that cutting the arts actually could be a vote winner in Queensland?

Matthew Condon: Look, coming so soon after a landslide win by the LNP...and this is not a political comment from me, this is...by rights, the Queensland people spoke and they wanted a change of government and here we are, and that's democracy at work. But with the devastation of the opposition, the arts may very well face a difficult crawl over broken glass, as will the ALP opposition. I don't know, I'm shuddering that this is a sign of things to come.

Michael Cathcart: Journalist and writer Matt Condon, commenting on yesterday's cancellation of the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards. And if you'd like to comment you can pop onto our website, just pop along to the Radio National website and you'll find us there, Books and Arts Daily, and you can have your say. Or if you're on Twitter, just go to @RNBooksandArts, and you can join in the conversation.

Credits

Comments (13)

Jimmy Trinket :

John Nightingale :

04 Apr 2012 10:09:02am

Remember that one of Campbell's early moves as Mayor of Brisbane was to can 'One Book, One Brisbane' and replace it with a fluffy alternative, 'Many Books, One Brisbane' (why not 'One book, many Brisbanes', that might have been cheaper?). He has been keen, as Mayor, to cut down anything created by his political opponents.

I don't think the Arts can hope for anything from a tory govt that has zilch connections to anything cultural. Wait for cuts to the various institutions in the cultural centre, all those expensive galleries, the museum, QPAC. Oh, and science isn't going to get too much joy, either. His four point plan for Queensland is tourism, mining agriculture and mining.

Nike Bourke :

04 Apr 2012 10:24:40am

For the last several years I have been proud to be a judge of the Emerging Author category of these awards. I was also a winner of the award in its second year. I am deeply saddened by their withdrawal, and wholeheartedly support any moves by the community to continue the awards in spirit.

The awards have contributed to the fostering of a healthy, vibrant and dynamic literary community in Queensland. Abandoning this program shows, I believe, a lack of insight or understanding of the crucial role that writing and publishing play in the economy and culture of Queensland.

Literary Awards Axed :

04 Apr 2012 10:32:12am

This is appalling news - Does the current government not realise that creativity is the essence of a fully rounded society. we cannot live by business alone - we have to learn creative skills and then we need to award those who excel. This award would spotlight the author and help them find a place in the literary world. A harbinger of this was the loss of the Short Story award at the end of Warana, and now this... shameful decision - it shows where the government sits with literature and literary arts in Education...

Ross :

04 Apr 2012 10:38:25am

Don't you worry about that! The Queensland Premier's Literary awards--what an oxym... moxyn... contradiction in terms that was anyway! Flo tried to read one of the winners, and couldn't get past the first page. Good riddance to bad rubbish!

John Tranter :

06 Apr 2012 9:45:22am

I lived in Brisbane under Joh. It seems his spirit has returned. The men of the governing party might wear nice suits, talk smoothly and pretend to be gentlemen, but this mongrel act has revealed their true nature: a gang of coarse thugs. They pay more for the cleaning of the Queensland Parliament than their literary prizes would cost. But of course it is symbolic: "We run the joint now. You arty types had better look out!" -- John Tranter, Sydney.

Zoe Boccabella :

04 Apr 2012 2:04:06pm

I am a Queensland author from Brisbane. When I wrote about growing up Italian-Australian in Brisbane during the 1970s and 80s, I was well aware of the perception of Queensland as a police state where many locals were considered unsophisticated. I hoped to convey to those perhaps unfamiliar with or not in Brisbane at that time that despite outward appearances there were also Queenslanders who were open to different ideas, read and travelled widely, and who debated or rebelled against the politics, despite such culture being vetoed, forced underground or behind closed doors. The axing of state writing awards, especially during the National Year of Reading 2012 seems a disquieting portent of ‘a new era’.

Jake Simmons :

04 Apr 2012 2:20:37pm

It may not be very good that these awards have been canned, but these type of awards become all about the cultural inner-circles. Like many awards and funding decisions, these are given by who-you-know and if you are friends with the judges. It may be good these award have a clearing out as too many of them are closed-shops.

TM :

04 Apr 2012 7:32:38pm

Disregarding the in-politics of any awards process, this announcement by LNP (though not unsurprising) typifies the "put up or shut up" mentality of the Bjelke-Petersen era. Sadly, it won't help the view of Queensland as a 'creative industries' arts-state, which in the last ten years has built it's cultural arts program and agenda exponentially; on a par with other major cultural centres in Australia (finally). What's the deal, Campbell? Should I be surprised that you can't do??